The mission of the Governor’s Focus on Returning Combat Veterans and their Families is to promote best practices in the service of veterans who served in the Global War on Terrorism and their families. This effort includes the articulation and implementation of an integrated continuum of care that emphasizes access, quality, effectiveness, efficiency, and compassion. Principles of resilience, prevention, and recovery are emphasized along with state-of-the-art clinical services as part of a balanced public health and behavioral health approach. The Governor’s Focus envisions a referral network of services that will comprise a system through which residents of North Carolina will have access to post-deployment readjustment assistance for veterans and their families.

Partnering in Support of War Zone Veterans and Their Families

The North Carolina Governor’s Focus on Returning Veterans and their Families

On September 27, 2006 leaders of the North Carolina state government, VA and DoD met with community providers and consumer groups at the Governor’s Summit on Returning Veterans and their Families. The initial Summit meeting lead to an ongoing effort called the Governor’s Focus on Returning Veterans and Their Families, whose mission is to promote best practices in the service of veterans who served in the Global War on Terror and their families, while envisioning a referral network of services through which North Carolina residents will have access to post-deployment readjustment assistance.

In response to the recommendations made in the report at the Governor’s Summit, the North Carolina State Legislature allocated over $2 million in Fiscal Year 2008 state funds to support new initiatives on behalf of returning service members, veterans, and their families. Issues addressed by the N.C. Governor’s Focus include:  stress in the workplace (military or civilian), educational and training needs, housing needs, financial and/or legal problems, and/or family problems.

A key component of the Governor’s Focus involves a three-pronged public health intervention consisting of an outreach letter from the Governor’s office, the Care-Line, and the delivery of a variety of outreach and education seminars in each of the state’s nine Area Health Education Centers (AHEC).

• Governor’s Letter – a personalized letter sent by the North Carolina Governor’s Office to every OEF/OIF veteran in the state, thanking them for their service and expressing the Governor’s desire to serve each new veteran and their family. Veterans are provided toll free numbers for Care-Line and N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Care Line – a toll free number, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in English and Spanish, linking callers to services in government, faith-based, for-profit and non-profit agencies. Staff is trained and data is reviewed by members of the Governors Focus steering committee.
• Outreach and Education to Providers – Painting a Moving Train, explores a model curriculum for educating and forming bridges between mental health, primary care, chaplain services/congregations, and family support services across the DoD/VA/state. The program is designed to increase understanding of deployment related stressors and health issues among community providers and leaders and to increase community capacity by educating local clinicians about TRI-CARE.

The Governor’s Focus is working to develop partnerships with professional organizations at the state level. Partnering organizations include the N.C. Medical Society, N.C. Academy of Family Physicians, N.C. Pediatric Society, N.C. Psychiatric Association, N.C Psychological Association, and the N.C. Association of Social Workers. The N.C. Governor’s Focus is a model that can be adapted to the specific needs of each state.